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One of the things that we seldom, if ever, think of is what is happening to all of the smaller minority groups in Iraq who are caught between the warring groups with all of the ensuing calamity?
Some organizations who keep track of and study these kinds of things believe that many of these smaller groups are on the verge of extinction.
MORE BELOW
Ten per cent of Iraq’s population is made up of minority
communities. They include Armenian and Chaldo-
Assyrian Christians, Bahá’ís, Faili Kurds, Jews, Mandaeans,
Palestinians, Shabaks, Turkomans and Yazidis.
Some of these groups have lived in Iraq for two millennia
or more. There is now a real fear that they will not survive
the current conflict and their unique culture and heritage
in Iraq may be extinguished forever.
A huge exodus of these communities is now taking
place. The Iraqi Ministry for Migration and Displacement
in Iraq has estimated that nearly half of the minority
communities have left the country. According to the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,
minorities make up approximately 30 per cent of the
1.8m Iraqi refugees now seeking sanctuary in Jordan,
Syria and across the world.
According to the United Nations
Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) from 1 January to
30 June 2006, the number of civilians killed was 14,338.
In July, the number of civilians killed was 3,590, including
183 women and 23 children. In August, 3,009 were
killed, including 194 women and 24 children. The number
of wounded reached 3,793 in July, including 234
women and 72 children, and 4,309 in August, including
256 women and 90 children.2 During 2006, a total number
of 34,452 civilians were violently killed and 36,685
wounded.3 UNAMI has reported that most died from
gunshot wounds. Because of the intricate and localised
nature of the violence, statistics on those killed or abducted
and tortured are likely to be conservative compared to
the reality. Much more can be read HERE
